Insurance for self-employed house cleaners: what to buy first and what it costs

Working alone shortens the list, but not by much. You don't need workers' comp for employees you don't have, and you probably don't need a policy for a building you don't rent. You do still walk into other people's homes with their keys and alarm codes, wipe down their marble counters and lift their vases to dust underneath. A solo cleaner's short list is built around that.

The sections below run in the order we'd buy, and the starter budget at the end adds up published prices. If you're setting up from scratch, the startup guide comes first, and the coverage page explains each policy in more detail.

First: general liability

General liability is the policy clients mean when they ask if you're insured. Insureon describes the two classic claims: a client who slips on a wet floor, and a cleaner who accidentally damages a customer's property. Thimble's cleaning page adds a toddler who trips on the mop handle you left on the floor at lunch, and a cleaner who posts photos of a client's sparkling home without permission, which is a privacy claim that general liability also handles.

For limits, Insureon says 87% of the cleaning businesses that buy through it choose $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate. It also clears the $1 million that condo buildings such as Evo in Los Angeles ask vendors for.

One catch before you buy. Knocking a vase off a shelf is the textbook claim. Picking the vase up to dust it and dropping it can be a different story. NerdWallet's guide says standard general liability excludes property in your physical care, "like holding a vase to clean it." Thimble says its cleaning policy automatically includes coverage for that situation; with other insurers you ask for a care, custody or control endorsement, also called bailee coverage. The care, custody and control guide explains the exclusion, and the general liability page covers the rest of the policy.

Hourly and monthly policies

If you clean part-time or you're testing the business with a few move-out cleans a month, a full annual policy can feel like a lot. Thimble sells cleaning cover by the hour, day, month or year. Its page says its general liability for cleaners averages "$6 per hour to $38 per month," and that you can pay only when you're working. It also says:

• Your certificate of insurance arrives by email right after purchase, even if the policy starts on a later date, so you can use it to bid.
• You can add and change additional insureds in its app as often as you like.
• You can modify, pause or cancel the policy.

Taken at face value, those averages cross over fast. Seven hours at $6 is $42, already more than the $38 monthly average. Averages aren't quotes, so price both options for your own schedule. If you clean four or five days a week, a monthly or annual policy also means you never have to remember to switch cover on before a job.

Your personal auto policy may not cover the drive to the job

You drive to every job with a trunk full of supplies, and your personal auto policy may not treat that as personal driving. The Hartford says most personal auto policies don't cover property damage or bodily injury from an accident while you're driving your personal vehicle for work. Insureon says a personal policy is unlikely to cover a work-related accident such as visiting a client's home or moving supplies between jobs, and calls hired and non-owned auto (HNOA) coverage "a must" if you drive your own car for work. ERGO NEXT's cleaning page says the same: in many cases, your personal auto insurance might not cover you.

HNOA doesn't have to be a separate policy: Insureon says it can be added to your general liability policy as an endorsement. Know what it doesn't do, though. The Hartford describes non-owned auto coverage as extra coverage over a personal auto policy for liability, and lists what it won't pay for: damage to the vehicle itself, your own medical bills, and property stolen from the vehicle.

The sources don't line up neatly, and two questions settle it. First, the same Hartford page that says most personal policies exclude work driving also says some sole proprietors may only need personal auto insurance, depending on the situation. So ask your personal auto insurer, by email: "Am I covered when I drive to clients' homes, for pay, with my cleaning equipment, several times a week?" If the answer is no, ask about commercial auto. Insureon's median for house cleaning businesses is $268 a month, and MoneyGeek's modeled average is $151 a month per vehicle.

Second, Insureon's page talks about "you or your employees" driving personal vehicles, while The Hartford describes non-owned coverage as applying to employees using their own cars. If the car is titled in your name, ask your business insurer: "Does this endorsement cover my own car, or only employees' cars?"

Your vacuum is a separate question. HNOA won't pay if it's stolen from the car, but Insureon says inland marine (tools and equipment) coverage will reimburse you if a vacuum cleaner is stolen from your vehicle.

Bonds when it's just you

A janitorial bond is mostly something clients ask for. Insureon describes it as protecting your clients if one of your employees steals their cash or belongings, and says the insurer reimburses the client and that you must pay this amount back.

For a one-person business, the open question is obvious: you have no employees. Swift Bonds says the same bond product applies whether you run a one-person route or employ 100 people. But whether a janitorial bond pays when the person accused is the owner-operator is something we could not confirm on any bond company's page. Don't assume it does, and note that the first-party cover sold as employee dishonesty needs an employee to attach to, which the employee dishonesty insurance page explains. Ask the bond company directly: "If a client accuses me, the owner, of theft, will this bond pay the client, and would I have to repay it?"

The reason to buy one anyway is that clients and platforms ask for it. Turno's Bonding badge accepts an active surety bond, not a quote or proposal, and Insureon says some owners, such as Airbnb hosts, will only hire cleaners who are bonded and insured. Insureon's median for house cleaners is $9 a month ($112 a year). SuretyBonds.com lists $125 a year for a $10,000 bond for businesses with five or fewer employees. The bonded and insured page covers conviction clauses and what "bonded" gets you, and the janitorial bond page covers where to buy and what it costs.

Workers' comp on yourself

State workers' comp rules are written around employees, and Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Tennessee say outright that sole proprietors aren't counted unless they opt in. Insureon recommends coverage anyway, because health insurance plans can deny claims for work injuries. As an illustration: you pull a muscle lifting a full mop bucket, miss two weeks of cleans and have a bill your health plan disputes. Insureon's median for house cleaning businesses is $100 a month, though it doesn't publish a separate figure for owner-only policies. The workers' comp guide has the state rules, including what changes when you bring along a helper.

What you can usually skip for now

• A business owner's policy or commercial property policy, if you have no storefront or storage unit. Insureon's house cleaning median for a BOP is $79 a month. If you store a lot of supplies at home, note Insureon's warning that homeowner's insurance provides little to no protection for business property.
• A commercial umbrella, until a client asks for higher limits than your general liability carries. Insureon's example is a client requiring $3 million, met with $2 million in general liability plus a $1 million umbrella.
• Workers' comp for employees, until you have one. Check your state's count before your first Saturday helper.

One thing not to skip if you hold client keys or lockbox codes: ask about lost key coverage. Insureon says it pays for replacing locks if a client's keys are lost or stolen. We haven't found a published price. See the lost key guide.

A starter budget

These are sums of published medians and averages, not quotes. Insureon's medians describe its house cleaning customers, most of whom have fewer than five employees, revenue of about $50,000 to more than $200,000, and five or fewer years in business.

Setup	What's included	Monthly
Part-time or trial month	General liability only, bought by the hour or month	$6 an hour to $38 a month (Thimble's averages)
Lean solo	General liability ($51) plus janitorial bond ($9)	$60 (Insureon medians)
Solo with gear in the car	Lean solo plus tools and equipment ($23, MoneyGeek's external benchmark)	$83
Solo covering own injuries	Solo with gear plus workers' comp ($100, Insureon median)	$183

MoneyGeek models a starter bundle for cleaning businesses (general liability, commercial auto and a janitorial bond) at $293 a month, for businesses with one to four employees. Most of that is commercial auto, which it models at $182 a month for cleaning businesses. If your personal auto insurer confirms you're covered for work driving, your number will look more like the table above. The cost page explains why the sources disagree.

Four questions before you buy

1. Does this general liability policy cover a client's item I'm holding or cleaning, or do I need a care, custody or control endorsement?
2. Does my personal auto policy cover driving to jobs, and if not, can I add hired and non-owned auto to this policy?
3. Will this bond pay if the person accused is me, and would I repay it?
4. Can I download certificates and add additional insureds myself, the same day a client asks?

Get the answers in writing before you compare premiums. The insurer comparison lists what each seller publishes. Once you have the policy, the cleaning service agreement checklist shows which clauses to write so the contract matches it. If you're deciding whether to form an LLC before you buy, the LLC guide sets the filing fees against what an LLC leaves out.